The focus of CCW’s artistic staff is on developing young voices in a cooperative choral setting. CCW’s Artistic Director, Margaret Clark is a talented choral music educator with a rich breadth of experience. She and CCW’s entire artistic staff are eager to share their knowledge and skills with music teachers in the DC Community, many of whom may not have the choral training needed to launch and/or build a choral program. CCW’s wide array of warm-ups, vocal exercises, ensemble building exercises and repertoire allows Ms. Clark to create a workshop curriculum for music teachers that they can take back to their classes and further individualize to their students.

Children’s Chorus of Washington has presented three choral teacher workshops for DC area music teachers in the past five years. These workshops helped music teachers enhance their choral instruction by covering topics suggested by teachers themselves. The workshops were presented by CCW’s award-winning music faculty along with demonstrations by CCW’s choral ensembles.

Workshop topics include:

Warm-up methods for your students

Age-appropriate musical games

How to modify vowel sounds to produce choral blend

How to choose the best repertoire for your students

How to analyze repertoire to discover the most efficient pedagogical approach (rhythmic/melodic/harmonic challenge, etc)

How to approach young men’s changing/changed voices (techniques to support healthy growth of the instrument and build confidence in their new vocal range)

Choral Conducting Techniques

A reading session during which you can explore songs of different genres (provided by CCW) and consult Margaret Nomura Clark on repertoire ideas specific to the teacher’s school/class.

For more information about upcoming workshops, please contact ccw@childrenschorus.com.